Cricket should learn from hockey

In the doom and gloom of sports news these past few days, what with the IOA suspension by IOC fiasco (which was more by design by corrupt politicos holding charge of sports federations than anything else), several sports bodies getting derecognised, and of course, the biggest calamity of them all, Team BCCI, yes, which some also, mistakenly, refer to as the Indian cricket team, comprising of demi-gods, perished to a young England team, rather embarrassingly, the only glimmer of hope came from the Indian hockey team.

The team that is currently being rebuilt with a lot of youngsters after the debacle at London Olympics finished a creditable 4th at the Champions Trophy tournament in Melbourne. For those who follow the sport, while the Olympics and World Cup may be more prestigious, Champions Trophy is a tougher tournament. In the others, you may run into a weak opposition, but not in Champions Trophy. Fourth place finish also means we are automatic qualifiers for the next edition of this elite tournament.

True, some others too were rebuilding their teams, but that should not take away from the performance of this young team whose oldest member at 26 is the peerless Sardara Singh, easily the best midfielder in the world who narrowly missed out on being named the International Hockey Federation’s player of the year on Saturday.

With Sardara as the pivot, distributing defence splitting passes to both flanks in the same motion, it was little wonder that the opposition heaved a sigh of relief when they realised he has an injured shoulder and the other winger, Sunil, too had an injured hamstring and could never go full pelt.

What was obvious was that these youngsters seemed to have a lot of attitude, the right kind of attitude, that is, were sure of themselves and would not get overawed, either by the stage or the considerable reputation of some opponents. Some of the flair they displayed and the élan with which the moved, is something I have not seen in an Indian hockey bunch in a long time. At least not since the likes of Mohd. Shahid, Zafar Iqbal, Merwyn Fernandes and others moved in the early 80s. But even they lacked the calm and composure that these youngsters displayed, especially when near the shooting circle.

While there can never be another Shahid as far as stick-work is concerned, these youngsters more than made up for it with their confidence and ability to remain unflustered under intense pressure. The defence too, that has been a huge bugbear of Indian teams in the past, seems to be doing a remarkable job. As a hockey lover, we have often dreaded the last few minutes of the game, when a tiring lot committed far too many errors, creating needless tension for the team. But the way these guys stood up this time was heartening. Sure, there still are flaws, but they seem far less worrying now than ever in the past. V Raghunath too seems to have gotten out of the shadows of the redoubtable Sandeep Singh, who was an asset as a drag flicker, but a huge liability as a defender.

Who does one give credit for this performance? I think the hockey babudom in India is as rotten as any other sport. It too has jokers at helm who are better at politicking than managing the sport, but despite that, I am glad they did not spring up after the Olympics to sack the coach Michael Nobbs. The Oz coach has brought a semblance of confidence and purpose in the team that I have rarely seen in the past.

The fact that Nobbs has himself been a player of some repute in the past helps. And it may sound bad, but the fact is as a coach, the sort of professionalism he can instil, along with discipline, is something Indian coaches never can. I have seen the Indian hockey teams very closely since the early 80s and apart from Balkishen Singh, to an extent, most other coaches simply did not have the self discipline to influence the players they were supposed to coach. I remember one of the center half of the team in the 80s, who went on to become a coach too, being drunk early afternoon, minutes before a photo session with the President prior to team’s departure for Olympics. Worse was the state of the coach, who barely looked on helplessly as this man staggered to the team bus. If he had the authority or the conviction, this players should have been axed, right then.

I can never imagine players taking such liberties now. For a change, after the scalpel was wielded after the Olympics debacle, word has gone around that non-performers will not be tolerated, irrespective of what reputation you might have gained due to your past performances. And for that, the coach needs all our support.

Wish the cricket board too showed the same resolve and ejected NPAs anon. For a change, let them learn from hockey. Amen!

Author

Rajesh Kalra is the Chief Editor of Times Internet and business head for the non-English languages properties. A journalist for two decades, he also tried his hands at entrepreneurship in between. Although he has written on several subjects, he has a weakness for IT and telecommunications. He is an avid sportsman, a trained high-altitude mountaineer, a passionate mountain biker and a marathoner. His blog, Random Access, will cover issues that take into account these varied interests.
Follow @rajeshkalra on Twitter

Rajesh Kalra is the Chief Editor of Times Internet and business head for the non-English languages properties. A journalist for two decades, he also tried h. . .